Disenchanted
by cherryblu
Summary: Sylar, tired of his old, yet fairly new, life, settles down in a town protected by the slayer, and learns what its like to feel important. Buffy, meanwhile, learns to let go and allow her self to love again. a Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Heroes Crossover
1. Seven minutes after midnight

AN: Ok, I wanted to try something a little different and try to introduce a heroes/Buffy the vampire slayer crossover. I might not be able to update often so I'll try and put as much as I can into this first chapter!

Disclaimer: anything you don't recognize is mine, everything else belongs to Kring and Whedon.

Plot: Sylar learns the meaning of redemption and Buffy learns the meaning of letting go and loving again (…..again). I mean, if Faith, Spike, Willow, and Angel could be forgiven, why not Sylar?

_Pussahn, Ohio May 1, 2008_

** Sylar**

**Blight Cemetery, seven minutes after midnight**

Prologue

Special, that was all I had ever wanted to be. At first, when Dr. Suresh Sr. visited my shop, I was skeptical about having 'abilities'. But I knew that was a lie. It was the best revelation anyone could have bestowed upon on me. I lived a modest life growing up, attending school, coming home, help out my father at his shop where he sold and repaired antique time pieces, and the mediocre cycle continued the next day.

But I guess it was my mother's demands to be more than what I was that I had become the monster I am today. My father was content with his life, but being a waitress at a diner and a shopkeeper's wife was not enough for my mother. Since it was too late for my parents to work on a richer life style, Mother decided to live vicariously through me. I attained a 3.3 GPA in school, and had the chance to go to a big-time university. But I didn't know what to do with my life then and since scholarships were awarded to the more ambitious students and my parents couldn't afford it otherwise, I copped out of going to college and decided to do what I was good at: fixing watches and other timepieces at my father's shop. Even though I, too like my mother, wanted more in life than being a watchmaker, I never saw a way to make it happen. So when my father passed away from a heart attack when I twenty years old, I took over in my father's footsteps and ran the shop. As much as she loved me, Mother became bitter and disappointed with me after that.

So after I discovered that my ability to figure out how things worked went beyond watches, I closed the shop and sold the space for a remarkable amount. I worked with Suresh Sr. with my 'ability' of telekinesis. He concluded the reason it appeared after tests after tests of negative results was my apparent anger of the thought of not being special made the ability surface. We, Suresh Sr. and I, traveled along the east coast, speaking with other special people. I knew I had to keep a low profile when it came to collecting new powers, collecting them several hours Suresh Sr. and I were supppose to wake up the following morning . He would call them before we would leave, of course, but would assume that they were unable to answer the phone. He only caught on to the deaths of these special people by the time we reached the fourth person, stopping by their residence while I was in the shower and discover a bloody mess with the victim's cranium detached with its brain missing. Suresh Sr. tried to contact the previous three we've made contact and received some horrifying news. He was able to put the pieces together and confronted me,

"What have you done?" He had asked me, not bothering to ask if I had committed the acts in the first place.

"They were undeserving of their abilities, they were weak," I had said, openly using the power of telekinesis to put away what little possessions I had with me. "It's natural progression of the strongest."

Then I walked away. I had no reason to kill him, yet. Not until I had learned that he had contacted the FBI and gave a brief description, along with my alias. So I had to put him away for good.

I continued on my way to collected abilities and ran into several people that were also special and tried to play hero. Their abilities were harder to collect because one way or another they were all connected to The Company, a facility that studied people like us. Along the way down my path of (self-)destruction, Suresh's son, Mohinder, tried to avenge his father's murder. Soon after a time traveler stabbed me with a sword, I got captured by the company and injected with a virus that prevented me from using my abilities. I've long since recovered with a vengeance and went along my merry way of conquering and destroying.

But then I got tired, tired of it all. Bit by bit, being special and different had lost its meaning to me. I was becoming lonely. So I decided to come to Pussahn, Ohio to start over. I had done some research on the town and discovered it had a fairly high death rate and a large missing persons file, some how related to a major gang infamous for PCP but unable to be 'detained for questioning' so I knew questions would not be asked about me. The town has a large population; the high school alone has a student body of over two thousand students, so blending in would not be a problem. I was finally home.

With the incredibly high death rates I have found cemeteries abound. Strangely enough I have found peace there. The cemetery I frequented the most was Blight. There, I had found a head stone with 'Georgia Gray' ingraved on it. It made me think of my mother, her name was Virginia. I wanted to cry for my mother's untimely death at my hands, but I had lost that ability the day I killed Brian Davis, my first victim. I guess you could say it was an even trade.

Off in the distance within the cemetery, my super hearing picks up signs of a struggle. Though tired of the life style I had become accustomed to, I was in no hurry to play superman and save the day. But curiosity got the best of me and I quickly walked over to see what was happing.

What I saw shocked me. Off to the side, huddling behind a mausoleum, were two teen girls, crying and holding each other. In front of them, however, a battle was ensuing. Three men with disfigured faces were fighting two young girls. What seemed odd, aside from the fact that those girls were holding various weapons such as sword and a battle axe, they were kicking ass, and they were half the size of the men they were fighting.

Suddenly I hear a twig snap and a fourth man, just as ugly and with strange yellow eyes, jumped out in front of me. He is about my height but twice as thick muscle wise. He grabs the front of my shirt and lifts me up above him as if I was made of feathers and throws me and I hit a headstone statue. The aforementioned group of fighters acknowledged us for a moment and went back to their fight; only two men were left instead of three. As I hurry back to my feet, I allow Ted Sprague's power of radiation surface and I can feel hands glow and surge with power. My opponent momentarily distracted, I pull a Darth Vader and used my telekinesis to put him in a choke hold and push him up against the head stone behind him. The other fight stops all together and turns to watch the new comer with glowing hands walk up to the opposing man. With my right hand I physically grab him and I amp up my power and the man begins to glow himself. When he sees his clothing start to burn off he screams. Before my eyes his disfigured face changes to a normal looking face, and then he turns to ash.

Frowning a little bit, I dust ash off myself and turn toward the fighters and see that they were still watching me. Just like the man I had killed, the two men's faces went from disfigured to normal.

"What the hell--" I say.

The girls with the sword and axe used the opportunity to decapitate their opponent. But instead of the bodies slumping down, the turned to ash. Before I could say anything else, I feel a tap on the shoulder. I whipped around and before I could acknowledge the person, I feel a punch kiss beneath my jaw and I literally do a back flip. When I land on my stomach I am kicked hard in the ribs and I feel myself rolling to my back.

I gasp for air, and then a blonde woman dressed in black jeans and pearl colored tank top comes to view with a sharpened piece of wood. With one stiletto boot on my jugular, she holds me hostage and says,

"Hi! I'm Buffy," she says in the perkiest voice I have ever heard. But then in a dead-pan voice, "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you."


	2. Makes me wonder

Chapter Two: Makes Me Wonder

* * *

**Buffy**

Five years. Five years gone since I lost Spike. Four really if you think about it, since he was resurrected through the amulet I had given him when we all went to face The First. Spike, my one true champion, and I had let him burn in Sunnydale. Angel will always be my first love and nothing could replace that, but Spike's love in me showed me that even in darkness and evil, there is hope. He was a vampire willing to have a soul, and he did it for me.

I was devastated to hear at the last minute that had come back, only to find out him, Angel, and whatever allies they had were sucked into Hell after taking down Wolfram & Hart. Willow's magic has advanced beyond our realm but it was too risky to go after them. If I had tried, their sacrifice would have been in vain.

I let him go. I let Spike go.

I was able to move on, and even able to have some fun with a guy or two. But nothing compared. Willow eventually found a way to contact all the newly awakened slayers, by sending a message through a dream. She was able to explain that the nightmares they were having were memories of past slayers, passed down to them, and all the slayer lore. Through several dream visits, we had hoped they would be able to defend their people from creatures of the night.

But here we all are in Pussahn, Ohio. After a year in Rome, Dawnie and I decided to move back to the states. We met up with the core group of the Scoobie gang: Giles, Xander, Willow, and Faith. We decided to set up a school for slayers who wish to gain more knowledge of demonic and vampire lore. Though we only have fourteen girls here, so we decided it was safe enough to enroll them in the local public school. We have another school set up in Seattle, run by Robin Wood and slayers that survived Sunnydale, including Kennedy, Willow's ex girlfriend.

I don't know what made go out and patrol Blight Cemetery tonight. Cathy and Livvi were patrolling this area, and they were experienced enough to be by themselves. I have just been itching to get out of the house. The girls think I am crazy to get all pretty when I patrol. I think it never hurts to look hot, never know who you might run into.

So I was not all that surprised to see a man take down a vampire by himself. What did shock me, however, was that the new guy had some how made his hands glow a fiery color and telekinetically slam the opposing vampire against a headstone, burning the vamp till he became dust. But the new guy seemed shock by this, especially when Cathy and Livvi used this opportunity to dust the remaining two vamps. I rushed behind the man and tapped his shoulder, then delivered and upper cut that sent him flying backwards. Then I kicked over to his back and I not-so-daintily placed a stiletto boot on his jugular.

"Hi! I'm Buffy! Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you," I say. The shock on his face melted away and a hint of a spark of light glints in his eyes. His lips curl and a low chuckle bubbles through.

"You're not going to kill me," he says.

"Oh, really?" I press my boot harder against his throat. "Tell me why."

"Because I won't let you," with that, Poo-face brought up his hands, now icy blue and misty, to my boot and pushes me off. I twirled in the air a couple of times before I hit the ground. Within a second I am back on my feet. But I can't move my feet!!

"What?" I can't move my feet and Cathy and Livvi are still hesitant about the next move.

"Not so cocky now, are you?" the stranger says. Livvi takes this moment to rush at the man with her sword. But he whips his upper torso around and shoots his left hand out in front of him. Not only the sword, but both it and Cathy's axe are flung out of their hands and they hit the ground behind them, the hilt sticking up in the air.

Cathy is the first to speak, "Are you going to kill us now?"

Livvi is quick to reprimand her in a loud whisper, "Shut it! You might give him ideas!"

The man looks over at me, "If I wanted to kill you all, you'd already be dead." With that, he just walks away. _What, am I suddenly not good enough to kill?_ I thought to myself. Before the man was too far gone, I realize I still have my classic stake. Holding on to the sharpened end, I fling it towards the stranger, but it was no good. He simply raises a hand and the stake flies to the right and splinters against a tree. The stranger stops and glances back at me. Standing in the light from the lamp post beside a mausoleum, his face is caught in a silhouette. A haunting look has replaced the malice I saw in his eyes, and he says to me, "Don't try to follow me." Then he disappears.

"Buffy?"

I look over and see Cathy and Livvi standing at my side. The other girls that were almost-snacks to the vamps had long ago run off. _That's gratitude for ya, _I thought to myself. Out loud, I say, "Let's go home."

* * *

**Slayer Central, 7 30am**

Then next morning, while all the girls were getting ready for school, I tell the gang what went on in the cemetery. "…..and the strange part is that I could tell he has all this power, but he lets us go. It seems obvious he has killed before; he had the heebie-geebie look in his eyes that gave it away, but then he had a sad, been-there done-that and got the t-shirt look."

Giles gets up and starts to clean his glasses. He always does this when he's thinking and/or worried. "Buffy, are you sure of what you saw?"

I pout, "Well, yeah."

Giles rolls his eyes at my pout. "What I am trying to say, are you basing your assumption from your experience with Angel? And Spike for that matter?"

"What?! Where'd the hell did that idea come from?"

Xander jumps in, "Well, Buff, you have to admit this describes Angel and Spike perfectly."

"Yeah, B," Faith says. "Men with a mysterious past, running away from something dark and from themselves. I think we ought to keep an eye out for this guy, but I think you're putting too much into this in the wrong direction, Buffy."

I sigh. "You're right Faith; we need to find out who he is, what he can do, and why he's in town." Giles, Faith, and Xander buy into this and leave the kitchen where we had our meeting. Dawn and Willow, both silent throughout the discussion, remain.

"Buffy?" Dawn speaks up. "Are you ok?"

I nod my head. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"It's almost been five years since…..Sunnydale," Dawn says, still unable to say Spike's name, even at 22.

"I know," _Boy do I ever, _I thought. _I can barely get through a night without something reminding me of Spike. I'm just now starting to keep myself from crying whenever I think of him._ "Willow?"

"What do you need, Sweetie?"

"Do you think you could contact the Coven and see if there are any warlocks in the area we ought to keep an eye out for?"

Willow nods and gets up, "Sure thing, Buffy, whatever I could do to help."

"Oh, and Willow," my voices hitches a bit and Willow's eyes widens, "could you make me some hot cocoa?" Willow agrees and tells me to take a hot shower. I give Dawn a brief hug.

When I feel the hot water on my face, I cry and let myself grieve all over again.

* * *

AN: I am hoping you like this so far. And don't forget to comment.


	3. I've got a dark alley and a bad idea

Chapter three: I've got a dark alley and a bad idea

**Sylar**

**Mansfield Plaza, Panera Bread, noon**

"Gabriel Gray?" calls a teen in a green apron and khaki colored cap behind a counter. "Your order's ready."

I walk up to the counter at Panera Bread and grab the paper bag that contains my turkey on country bread. I courteously give the girl behind the counter a smile and a wink before turning to leave, having heard her talk to her friend about being 'the hot specimen that I am'. As soon as my back is turned the girl that had given me my sandwich spoke to the other girl standing behind her in a whisper, "Oh my effing god! Stace, did you see that? He winked at me!"

I heard the girl Stacy reply, "I know! He is so hot! Did you get a look at his butt?"

I sighed as I walked out the door and towards the sidewalk, heading to a park nearby. It has been three days since the incident in the cemetery, but I could not help but think upon what I had seen. The man I had killed had a disfigured face that _morphed_ to a human façade. With my enhanced photographic memory, I reviewed the details. He had super-human strength and could lift me up a foot off the ground. His eyes were yellow, and I swear he had fangs. But more so, my hearing did not pick up a heart beat from him.

There was also something intriguing, yet strange, about the woman that had threatened me……..

_There is definitely more to this town under the surface_, I thought to myself. Whatever it was, I did not want any part of it.

At the park, I find an empty bench under a buck-eye tree and I sit myself on the back of the bench with my feet on the seat. Twisting the cap off a bottled water I had purchased from a hot dog vendor, I take a small sip before placing it on the bench. While eating my sandwich, I take in the view around me. It was nice, warm Saturday, and the teenagers were taking advantage of the nice weather to study on the grass and work on their tans. Children running around while the moms chatted about various topics, usually cute thing their child had said or done.

I started thinking about my childhood growing up. It is still hard to believe the shy, quiet boy in my memory grew up to be the killer I became when Chandra Suresh first walked into my shop. When I killed Brian Davis and discovering how his telekinesis worked and how to 'fix' my brain structure to work the same way, I thought I could finally impress my mother, who always thought I could do better, _be_ better than what I was.

My thoughts were interrupted when a crisp, British voice asked, "Hello, is this seat taken?" I look up and see a middle-aged man, dressed casually in a maroon button-up over a black tee and Levis. I motion for the man to sit and I adjust my seating and sit correctly on the bench.

Taking a sip of coffee the man had with him and unfolding today's paper, he asks, making conversation, "I take it you're here by yourself?"

"Yes," I reply, trying to be polite and ignoring the small detail of disliking small talk. "I like people watching."

"Ah yes, people watching can be peaceful," the older man says, still reading his paper.

I only shrug. "I am just more curious of where people go during the day, guessing their destination and why they go out. What they do. I personally find cemeteries more peaceful."

The man looks up at me. "Really? You don't say?"

I look over at the man before turning my attention to a mother tending to her son's scratched knee. "I like the quiet, that's all." Despite the man's pulse picking up and sensing the cogs in his brain ticking away in sudden interest, I found myself drawn to him.

"I've lived in Pussahn for a few years and I come to this park every Saturday and see all the regulars, but this is the first time I have seen you here," the British man folds his paper up and tosses his empty cup into the trash can next to the bench. "Are you new to the area?"

I take another sip of water before replying, "Yeah, I moved from New York, Queens area. I got here about last week."

The man quirked a brow, "That is quite a change of scenery. What's the occasion for, new job, family?"

I can tell he is fishing for information, but I answer anyway, "No. No job and both my parents passed away, so it's just me."

"No job, you say. I think I can help you there," the man takes out a thin stack of post-its from his shirt pocket along with a pen. He scribbles on it before handing it over to me. "I own a book store just around the block, and could use an extra hand. It doesn't pay much, but it is enough to get by. I do hope you consider, Mr…..?"

"Gray. Gabriel Gray."

The other man smiles and extends a hand. "Yes. Mr. Gray. My name is Rupert Giles."

* * *

**A few blocks from The Horse Barn**

By the next night, I still have not given thought about accepting Mr. Giles's offer to work at the book store, which happened to be called, The Book Store. My intuitive aptitude picked up that he was trying to pick up specific details about me, but as for intentions I did not know. I did not financially need a job to get by. After regaining my abilities after going several months without them, the first person I encountered was a street punk in his twenties at a street corner. Pretending to be pressing the button for the walk/don't walk sign, he was manipulating the traffic grid to make all traffic lights at that intersection turn green, causing a pile-up.

Long story short, I took his power of technopathy. Before moving to Ohio, I used a computer at a public library to hack into my bank account to falsify my credit history and added some numbers to my savings account. Then, I hacked my way into the police records to make sure my name was not linked my mother's death.

I would never have to worry about money ever again.

After having manipulated an ATM to withdraw some bills, I walk to a bar close by, known for awesome chili cheese fries. At the bar, I take my beer and chili cheese fries and bring them over to an empty table near some pool tables. But before I could sit down and do some more people watching, some guys at a pool table try to get my attention.

"Hey! Feel like playing pool with use?" One of the guys asks. I am silent before accepting the offer. "You any good at the game?" the first guy, Chad, asks.

"I've played once or twice," I reply. Another guy, Tom, handed me a pool stick. The last player, Eddy, started the game. The three of them are apparently teachers within the school district, Eddy and Chad teach at the high school and Tom over at the middle school, and they were arguing who could turn the lesbian science teacher straight.

"I am telling you," Eddy proclaims, getting a ball in a corner pocket, "you have no chance in Hell. Rosenburg wouldn't go near you with a ten foot pole, let alone sleep with you."

"Why not?" Chad retorts, trying to steal my fries.

Tom answers for Eddy, "I believe she said that you were a sexist man-whore with mush for brains."

Chad, in hopes I could come to his defense, asks me, "Gabe, what do you think? Would Rosenburg fall for my lines?"

"If you cuff her to your wrist and throw away the key, maybe," I down the rest of my beer. "But I wouldn't know, never met her. I'm new in town." But after studying these men, it is easy to tell that they would have ill intentions when it comes to the female population. However, I did not feel I had any obligations to care, since it did not involve me. It was my turn to shoot when I saw a familiar face. It was one of the girls crying in the cemetery. She was scantily clad in a red bustier and short shorts, so it was hard to tell if she was just a hooker or pretending Halloween came five months early.

Even though she was on the other side of the bar, I tuned in to the conversation that was going on at her table. It was nothing much. She had evidently tried to report the events at the cemetery, but she and her friend were accused of being on hallucinogens. Her friends remind her that the do indeed use drugs. I nudged Tom, "Hey who's that girl over there?"

Tom, looking towards the direction I jerked my head at, rolls his eyes. "Jailbait, that's for sure. That's Tina Lochlyn, the school slut. From what Chad and Eddy tells me."

"Yeah," Chad says, "She's in my home room class before first period, and the other day she went on about vampires attacking her in Blight Cemetery."

Pretending that part was new to me, I say, "Oh, really?"

Eddy jumps in, "I heard about that. Listen, Gabe, there a lot of people in this town that use pot and other kinds of drugs that make them see things. It messes them up real bad. Sometimes so bad that they cut themselves and other people, convinced there is this big evil inside they have to get out……."

I stopped paying attention. Without saying anything, I walk out the bar. What the guys told me explained the deaths in the town, but it conflicted with what I saw that night. Logic tells me that there are no such things as vampires, but I _saw_ ridges on their faces mesh back to normal and fangs disappear.

But as if right on cue, in alley I walking through, I see the woman from the cemetery. Buffy, I had heard her being called. She was fighting one of those _things_, whatever they are. Using my telescopic vision, an ability I had gotten while traveling with Suresh Sr., allowed me to see her in great detail from a distance. She moved with such skill and grace. I had to resist finishing off the _thing_ myself so I could examine her ability. But no, I resisted. I had to remind myself doing so would not benefit me, I had no one to impress and no reason to be special. That was the main reason I hunted down abilities, to prove I was the best.

But I had to admire her grace and agility. Another ability had I taken while with the older Suresh was agility. It wasn't super speed, but it had helped me with numerous escapes. This Buffy person had agility that far surpassed mine. So it was not long before she had killed the _thing_.

She still has yet to discover my presence, I place a hand on a circuit breaker stationed on the apartment building near my building and I direct the lights in the alley to go out. In addition to seeing at far distances, my telescopic vision also allowed me to see in dim places. Walking up to ten feet from her and into the dim light the not-quite-full moon gave off, Buffy saw me.

"So who's following who now?"

* * *

AN: Ok, I'm hoping with this chapter I'll get more reviews. Reviews mean a lot to me. At least let me know what you think.

Also, what other powers should Sylar have? Like, what powers could he have gotten before he was fully introduced in SMG and whatever power he might have gotten after getting his powers back?


	4. See you again

AN: you know the drill.

Chapter four: See you again

* * *

**Buffy**

**Alley between The Horse Barn and Cedar Heights apt. complex**

"So who's following who now?" I ask.

A grin lazily forms its way through on the stranger's face. "I don't know what you're talking about……Buffy. I was just on my way home after a nice night of playing pool and a beer."

"You know what?," I ask, mentally preparing myself for a fight. I already had a bad day, and I didn't need this weirdo antagonizing me. "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"My name?" He sticks his hands in his jeans and walks closer to me. With the lights out in the alley, I couldn't get a good look at his face but I could still tell he was still grinning at his having the upper hand over me. "Well, you can just call me Sylar."

"What kind of name is Sylar?"

"What kind of name is Buffy?" Sylar shot back. Sylar starts walking circles around me, and I kept my senses peeled in case Sylar tried anything. "What the real question is: what is a girl like you fighting big bads like the one I saw earlier, and the cemetery for that matter? There are strange things going on in this town, and I know you're a part of it.

"So, tell me, _Buffy_, what is it that you're a part of?"

Sylar whispered the last part in my ear from behind. "You want the truth? Well, whatever you've been told about this town is a lie, whether the town knows it or not. There are bigger forces out there, bigger than you and I. That was a vampire out there, they are real."

The street lamps suddenly turn back on, and Sylar is suddenly standing barely six inches in front of me. "And let me guess, you're the only one with the ability to stop them?"

I try to swallow the nervousness that was beginning to build up in my throat. "Something along those lines." I stare into his piercing brown eyes. "I am not afraid of you, you know."

Sylar cocks his head, never breaking eye contact with me. "Your increase in heart rate tells me otherwise. I know you saw what I can do, and I know you think I am up to something. But whatever you are thinking, you are far from the truth. I have no interest in you, or what ever is going on in this town."

"If you're not going to do anything to me, then why can't I move my body?" Fear starting bubbling inside my stomach when I realized I couldn't move my arms or legs. Willow told me that there were no warlocks in the area, and that the only mystical or demonic beings in town were me and the other slayers, the vampire population, and maybe a demon or two. So that only leaves human. But Sylar is right; I did see what he can do. However, I have a feeling that was barely a fraction of the things he can do. Giles had told me that he met a fellow new in town, and he fits the physical description of the man before me. But that man called himself Gabriel Gray and Giles actually likes the guy. But this Sylar person, he's something I can't figure out.

"You can't move because I don't want you to move," Sylar replies. "I am thinking of my own personal safety. After all, you were the one who threatened me, and threw a sharpened stick at my back. I am just making sure you don't follow me home," he says, looking up and down my body. As he starts walking backwards into the dark alley, he says, with a sly grin, "Of course, I don't think I would complain _too _much."

"You're pig," was my quick reply. But I had to ask him one more question before he could get away. "You're human, but what are you?"

"Me? I'm nothing special," he says. Whatever cocky attitude he had displayed melts away and a sadness I couldn't describe shines through his eyes, as if he believed he was not anything special. "Have a nice night……_Buffy_." Then he disappears.

The second he turned the corner, I could move again. I run toward the direction he went but when I reached the corner, Sylar was no where to be found.

"Damn it!" I curse.

* * *

**Pussahn Heights Community High School, 9 20 am**

The next morning, Willow and I are in the teachers lounge during a free period, the lounge at the local high school where Willow teaches biology and I am a guidance counselor.

"Willow, are you sure the Coven was positive that there weren't any big evil to worry about?"

Taking a sip of coffee, Willow replies, "Yeah, they even branched out the usual baddies that could give us trouble, but got nothing. Maybe this Sylar character was telling the truth."

I sigh. "That he doesn't have any hidden agendas? Maybe, so. He did have every opportunity to kill me, and I admit he does have the ability to do so, but he didn't. Maybe he could be a potential ally."

"Or possible smoochies," Willow says, with a silly and knowing grin. "Your aura glows when you think someone is yummy looking."

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Well, he is good looking. Very tall, I came up to his shoulders. Thick brown hair that was spiked about, but couldn't tell he used gel in it. Thick, well groomed brows and brown eyes. And he is the only guy I have seen to pull off five o'clock shadow and still look good."

"Wow, you must really like this guy then, Miss Summers," it wasn't Willow that answered, but the sexist jerk also known as Chad Turner. Willow and I rolled our eyes. Chad may be a math genius, but he thinks he is god's gift to women. How he ever became qualified to become a teacher, no one knows. All year, it has been rumored that he had an affair with a senior girl on the cheerleading squad. It wouldn't be surprising if it was true, since Chad will chase anything with a thin waist and boobs to jiggle.

"I don't see how it is any of your business, Mr. Turner," I icily reply back.

Chad brings his hands up in defense. "Hey, I'm only saying. You've only been here a year or so, and no mention of a potential boyfriend or plaything. We all just thought there was something going that you weren't willing to admit." When he says this, he looks over at Willow and then back at me, licking his lips and a knowing look in his eyes.

It took Willow all her will power not to curse him right then and there. "You….you….!"

"You're a pig," I finish for her. "Is there a real reason you're 'gracing' us with your presence?"

"No, no reason at all," Chad says. "But I think I know the person you were talking about. Me and the guys met him at the bar last night. Gabe Gray, I think his that is his name. Nice guy, he's the only one that had the thickest brows there."

Without another word, Willow and I grab our purses and run outside the lounge. "Buffy, do you think this Sylar guy is the same guy Giles was talking about? I mean, he did say the new guy liked hanging out in cemeteries. And Chad did confirm his being at the bar, around the same time you were in the alley."

I bit my lip before answering. "It's starting to look that way, Wills. With what little information we have, do you think you'd be able to do a locater spell?"

"Of course I can! There is nothing I can't find, well maybe the remote control and occasionally my car keys. But I think we can narrow down to the specifics for this guy."

I nod, "Good. Let's do this as soon as we get back to the house. Faith can handle the training exercises. We need to do this before it gets dark, that way we have time to find him so he wouldn't be able to try anything during the day."

"No problem, I don't think we'll have a sitch in finding him. If he is a good guy, we could still use all the help we can have."

* * *

**Slayer Central **

Later that day, Willow is setting up the ingredients as Giles, Xander, Dawn and I wait for her to get ready. As usually, Giles is showing his worry by cleaning his glasses. "I am still unsure about this."

"What's to worry? It's just some super-powered mega-human that could possibly take down the slayer without lifting a finger," Xander says. "We have nothing to worry about."

"He could be biding his time," Dawn says. "Maybe he is trying to convince you that you don't have anything to worry about him?"

This made me frown, "If he wanted to take me down, why not wait to catch me off guard? Granted the two encounters so far were most likely coincidental, why delay it?"

"Well, whatever the reason," Willow pipes in, "I think I found him." We all gather around the table that has the map of the town and there were several spots on it that were glowing. "I was able to narrow down based on what we know about him: about six-feet tall, brown hair and eyes, and male. At first, the whole map lit up." Willow motions over the whole map, and the whole thing lit up. Then she pointed to six spots on the map, and only those spots lit up, "Then I narrowed that down to include those new to town and got this." Pointing to a singular spot, she went on, "Finally, I included to having super-powers and this is the only place that stayed lit up. It has to be the place; it's an apartment building near the bar, the only place that's leasing rooms out."

"Good," I say, making my way to my weapons chest. "I'm going to go check it out."

But Giles cuts me off, "Now, Buffy, wait just moment. From what you told us, it seems like he might expect you to go find him. Let's just wait a few days. I'll be at the park this weekend, I'll try and see if he's there again. I noticed he opened up to me quite easily, if not vague with his answers."

I nod, "You're right Giles. I think I can wait till a little longer to find this guy." _So we just sit around and wait. I am just going to do this alone._ There was just something to this man, something that draws me to him. He was able to detect my heart racing, but he was wrong about why. I was not really afraid, but I am not sure what I am feeling anymore.

_Sylar, or whatever your name is, I will get some answers. And I will get them tonight._

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AN: ok just make my day and leave a review. And yeah, I know this chapter is a bit weak. But let me know what you think. So you know what to do.


	5. I want to hear you sad

Chapter Five: I want to hear you sad

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the names you don't recognize.

**Sylar**

**Washington Cove apt. complex, Washington gym, 7 34pm **

_Only five more minutes, just five minutes, _I think to myself as I try to complete my 30 minute run on the treadmill. I have been running out of things to do to occupy myself, since I had given up going after new abilities. Since the complex I now reside offers free gym memberships to all Wash Co residence, I figured I work on staying in shape.

Since there is no entertainment for a distraction, I used my hearing to eaves-drop on my neighbors. I learn that Mr. Duffy in 129 is having an affair with the babysitter, and the couple in 201 enjoys doing role playing sex……with other couples. Becoming disgusted with the gossip, I wipe down the treadmill and walk back up to my apartment on the third floor.

Once in my apartment, I used my TK to multitask by tossing my sweaty clothes into the laundry basket, turn my TV on to one of the movie channels I had hacked from the cable company, and got a warm shower started. While getting the shower ready, I order pizza and they tell me it will be ready in 30 minutes.

A quick shower later, I dress myself and put the ear buds to my iPod in my ears. The loud music in the form of _Three Days Grace_ provides a nice distraction without tuning out the rest of the world. With the music playing, I am still able to hear the doorbell chime and hear the pizza boy call out that he was here.

With the ear buds still in place, I answer the door. "A large cheese pizza and three bread sticks for 12.99," the pizza boy says.

"Yeah," I say, paying more attention to the music than the tell-tale sign of the lack of a heart beat. "Here's fifteen, keep the change."

"Hey, sir? My car broke down; would it be all if I could use your phone to call my boss?"

I grab the cordless sitting on an end table by the door and hand it to him, "Here, knock yourself out."

"Much appreciated," and with one hand the boy grabs the phone, but before I let go of the cordless, the boy yanks me and the cordless towards him. With his other hand he turns me to face the other way as he bites down hard on my neck. I was so caught off guard and the vamp/pizza boy was so fast I was unable to put of a defense. I radiated my hands and tried to reach for the vamp but I was already too weak from the loss of blood.

I hear a female grunt and the vamp that was killing me was suddenly dust. I collapse and my vision blurs, but the blonde woman from the alley and cemetery appears above me with a concerned look in her eyes. "Oh, it's you…." I slur before I black out.

* * *

When I finally came to, I see Buffy is still here. However, she is on the cordless phone from earlier, and she seems to be having an argument. "Yeah, I know you're angry with me about coming out here…." Pause. "If I hadn't come here our Mr. Mysterious would have been dead!" Pause. "Yes dead! He got surprised by a vampire posing….." Pause. "I don't know how that could have happened but…." Buffy looks over to the couch where I am resting and notice I am awake. "Look, he's awake now. I'll see you guys later."

"Sorry," I croak out. "I didn't mean to interrupt your phone call."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Buffy says. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alive," I say. I try to sit up but then the room started to spin.

"What do you think you're doing?" Buffy scolded, gently pushing me back onto the couch. "You lost a lot of blood back there. You need to rest." She gets up and walks to the adjoining kitchen; when she reappears, she hands me a cold, bottled water. She twists the cap off and gently lifts my head to help me drink the water.

I feel a little better after I had some water. She still has her hand under my head and I breathed in the comforting scent of her lotion. "So," I finally say, "I guess this will be a good time as any to talk."

Buffy quirks a brow, "You actually want to _talk_? And are you sure you want to sit up?" She asks as I pull myself upright and rest my head on the pillowed headrest.

"Yeah, why else would you be tracking me down?"

"Well, regardless of what the mayor says, this is my town. I have to make sure there isn't anything that could pose a threat to my family and friends. I had to know about you."

I try to give her a sly grin, but it felt more like a tired smile, "What to do think of me now?"

"I still don't know, everything isn't a clear black and white, a clear good and evil," Buffy says the last part in a whisper, but I still heard her loud and clear. "There is always a middle that people stick to. I just need to know which shade of gray you're floating around."

I look at her, and she has this tired look in her eyes, but I sense she is still on high alert. "These abilities that I have," I begin, "they weren't mine to begin with."

"You've killed for them," she finishes as a statement and not as a question.

"How could you tell?" I ask.

"I've seen a lot of death, and I've seen darkness in people. I have the same darkness in me, too, and I see it in you," Buffy says.

"Yet you're still here," I say, hoping she wouldn't see too much of me. "But then, I am still weak from the blood loss."

"You may be weak, but I know you could still kill me if you wanted to," after that, I proved to her that I still had some strength I mentally pushed a couple windows up, allowing a gust of wind blew in. Buffy closed her eyes and moaned in relief, "I must say thanks for that, it was getting a little stuffy in here."

"Yes," I say, "I could still kill you. But you seem unafraid of me this time. I can't hear fear in you heart."

"Honestly, you seem lonely."

"Am I that obvious?"

Buffy smiles, "I know what lonely is like. It sucks. Tell me what happened."

"From the beginning?" Buffy nods. I take a deep breath, "I wasn't always like this, a murderer, because that is what I became. I was a watchmaker, like my father. He had a shop that sold antique and repaired watches, and I would help him out as much as I could, because I was good at it. But my mother wanted me to be more. She wasn't proud of a watchmaker for a husband and she didn't want the same life style for me. I just wanted to be special. Then a geneticist from India stopped by the shop and changed by life.

"He wrote a book about his theory that there were a few selected population of people with a special abilities engraved into their DNA. I was his first patient. At first, my ability was not apparent enough to be noticed, so the good doctor sent me away. I was so angry, that I stole a post-it that had the number of someone with telekinesis. I called him and I killed him and I stole his ability, then passing it off as my own. The doctor and I started traveling to meet other special people, but I just wanted to take their ability because I thought I was a natural progression of the species…….." I went on a few more hours about what went on, and those I have met. "……..and I am just so tired."

Buffy finally spoke up, "But are you sorry for killing those people? For what you did to Mohinder's father?"

"That's the thing, I don't know how to be, or if I am sorry," I reply honestly.

"If you can't allow yourself to feel regret and remorse, then I can't trust you," Buffy says, and before I know it, a fist comes in contact with my face and then…….nothing.

* * *

AN: ok, you know the drill. Leave a comment


	6. A Dangerous Mind

Chapter Six: A Dangerous Mind

Disclaimer: Any thing you don't recognize is mine

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Buffy

**Slayer Central, 11 pm**

"….Not only did you run off to find him, you brought him here? Buffy, tell me, what on God's earth were you thinking?" Giles demanded of me. Xander, Willow, Dawn, and Faith were with us in the dining room, surrounding a mahogany table.

I took a deep breath and rubbed my temples. Quickly glancing at Sylar, or Gabriel, as he preferred to be called, still unconscious on the couch, I look at Giles, "I brought him here to see if there is a way to convince him to pick up his stuff and leave town."

Faith spoke up, "But Buffy, from what you've told us, this guy has no interest in causing any harm to anybody. Why try to chase him out of town?"

"The guy's killed God only knows how many people," Xander interjected, "and stole people's brains. You know why he wanted their brains?" Out of the four, Xander is the only one that saw the danger of housing Gabriel. But before he could answer his own question, Willow jumped in,

"Uh, hello? Remember Warren? The guy I filleted way back in the day? I killed him, and Faith killed that one guy associated with the mayor back in high school. But you welcomed us back with open arms."

"Yeah," Dawn says. "I mean, he could be a really good addition to the team. We could use all the man power we can get."

"Xander's right," I injected. "He told me himself that he wasn't sure if he was sorry about the people he killed and hurt. Or if he even knew how to be sorry. I can't risk him suddenly losing it and deciding he wants to collect more powers. The temptation might be too great, and I don't know if I would be able to stop him."

"I get what you're saying now, Buff," Willow says. "Power is addicting. Remember the year when Tara died? I got too addicted to Magic and people got hurt."

"I still don't think we should turn our back on him," Faith says. "If he doesn't know how to _feel_, we could teach him, B. He wouldn't have to be alone."

I managed to crack a tiny smile, "When did you become so wise?"

Faith smiled back, "Angel hadn't given up on me, the least I could do is allow someone else the same chance."

"Then would you like to have the honor of keeping him company tomorrow while everyone's at work?" I ask Faith. "I would do it, but I used up all my sick days for this semester." _Just a few more weeks of school, _I thought to myself.

"Sure thing, B."

**

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Faith

**Slayer Central 10 05am**

"Oh crap!" I cursed. After a few seconds, I feel my heartbeat slow as I remembered that I had promised B that I would baby-sit the new guy, and I did not have to work at The Book Store today.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever waking up," said a strange voice in my room.

"What the fuck?" I curse as I reach under my pillow and whip out an Incan battle knife and jumped out of bed. I saw the owner of the voice sitting on an alcove bench, the morning sunshine bathing his face and the quirk of the brow at the knife in my hand.

It was the guy Buffy dragged in, Gabriel. "What are you doing in here?"

Gabriel tilted his head, revealing the bandaged side of his neck from when he got bitten, "I woke up in a strange house, and I followed the sound of a heartbeat that led me to your room. From the family photos in the hallway, Buffy lives here?"

"Yeah, she lives here," I replied, suddenly aware of the sleep-ware I was in. "Look, man, mind stepping out so I can get decent?"

Gabriel smirks as he gets up and walks out the room, and without laying a hand on the knob, he shuts the door with a semi-gentle bang. When I was dressed in jeans with my favorite studded belt and a short-sleeved sweat jacket over a red spaghetti strap top, I grab one of the younger slayers' Nerf dart guns and I slowly stalk my way down stairs. In the middle of my decent, I look over the railing and I spot Gabriel in the living room watching TV. The interesting part was that even though he had the remote in his hand, he was not using any of the buttons to surf around the different channels, somehow landing on Showtime-a network we do not subscribe to.

I took aim of the Nerf dart at the back of Gabriel's head and pulled the trigger. But midway the dart stops in the air and just floats. Gabriel twists his head around to look at me, "Is that the best you can do?"

I shake my head and take two steps at a time down to meet him by the couch. "Damn G," I say, "How'd you know I was there? Did you read my mind or something?"

Gabriel chuckled, "I can't read minds; I could see your reflection in TV." Gabriel stands up and walks around the couch. Crossing his arms and leaning against the back of the couch, he asks, "Why am I here? Last thing I remember was me telling Buffy my life story and suddenly getting a punch in the face."

"Buffy told us all about you."

"Who is us? Every one in the entire house?"

"Not _everyone _everyone, just the grown-ups," I tell him. "Buffy isn't sure you can be trusted in our town."

Gabriel rolls his eyes, "I never gave her a reason she should trust me. But I have no interest in collecting powers from anyone."

"But you don't allow yourself to feel pain for the people you murdered! How do we know you won't wake up one day and start killing people?"

"For one thing, you won't know, and second, I don't go around just killing people for the heck of it. Why won't you guys leave me alone?" Gabriel ran a hand through his hair.

I walked up next to him and leaned against the couch, "There are a few people, including Buffy, that think you're dangerous. Buffy is going to try and talk you into leaving town. But there are others, people who haven't met you, who want you help you."

"What about you? What side are you on?"

"I know what its like to be on that path, and I was grateful when there was someone who gave me a chance. I want to help."

"Buffy shouldn't have saved me from that vampire," Gabriel says.

"Why's that?"

"Because of what I've done, I shouldn't be saved."

I gave him a small smile, "See? That's a start."

"Sure it is," Gabriel says, getting up.

"Hey, where're you going?" I ask as Gabriel walks toward the front door.

"I'm going home."

"Oh come on! I thought we were getting along!"

"We got along fine," he says. We reached the sidewalk and I grabbed his arm to make him stop and face me.

"Then why won't you stay?"

"Because you don't get it! The abilities I collected, it was more than just for the power, it was about being special, important to somebody! But in the end, it's not enough. In the end, nobody wants me."

Now I was getting mad, "No, you don't get it! You have people that want to get to know you!"

"But the thing is," Gabriel says, "I do get it. But it doesn't matter what you little friends say, because in the end its all up to Buffy to decide whether I am good or not, isn't it? Whatever you guys are a part of, Buffy's the big boss-lady, isn't she? You're just a pencil-pusher worker."

I got fed up, "Fine you want to leave, go ahead, I won't try to stop you." I turn around and marched to the front door. As I was about to reach for the handle, Gabriel spoke,

"Hey, wait!"

I turn around, "What?"

"What's your name?"

"Faith."

"It was nice meeting you, _Faith_," he says. By the time I finally got over the shock at nice gesture, Gabriel had rounded the corner, hidden by the tall bushes. I ran after him, but when I reached the corner, Gabriel was out of sight.

"Well, fuck."

* * *

AN: I hope you like the little insertion of having Faith's point of view. I was thinking, now that Sylar's been introduced to the others, I was thinking of having POVs from Buffy's friends whenever they interact with Sylar. But I still plan to dedicate every other chapter to being from Sylar's point of view.

So just let me know what you think of the chapter!


	7. My heart is the worst kind of weapon

Chapter Seven: My heart is the worst kind of weapon

AN: you know the drill

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Sylar

**Centre Grove Mall 12 04pm, June 3**

_My god, will they ever give up?_ I think to myself as I browse around Borders at the mall I am at. I have been at the mall for at least an hour, and Buffy and her companion tailing me the entire time. Ever since I walked out on Faith that day a few weeks ago, I would sense Buffy not too far behind.

Pretending to be browsing the Tom Clancy books, I eaves drop on the conversation Buffy is having with her shopping companion.

"Come on Buffy," the girl says, apparently Buffy's sister. "Would you just make up your mind? We've been at the mall for at least forty minutes, at least make up your mind and pick a place to look around."

"Well, Dawn, I'm looking for a good sale," Buffy replies.

The girl rolls her eyes, "So you decided to come to a book store. Buff, when was the last time you actually read a book?"

With a straight face, I drop the façade of browsing for books and walk up to Buffy, "The better question would be why you are following me. You have been for a few weeks. Why?"

Buffy and her sister squeal in surprise and whirl around to face me, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"We've been doing what?" the other girl says. "Jeez Buffy, couldn't you find something else to do?"

"I'm just making sure you're not causing trouble, seeing as you refuse to leave town," Buffy says.

"Everyday for three weeks?" I ask, raising an eyebrow, amused. "Gee, Buffy, keep this up and I might think you like me."

Before Buffy could reply, I turn around and walk away, smirking. With my outing cut short, I take a bus to Target and picked up detergent, milk, Fruit Loops, and a Dan Brown book. While in line, I see a stack of news papers for today.

_**Three bodies found, 12 total in four weeks**_

Something told me it had to do the vampires Buffy and her gang was associated with. Picking up a copy and paying for my purchase, I head out back to my apartment.

Back home, I switch on the TV to some random channel, and opened the paper.

_Making a total of twelve deaths in four weeks, three bodies were found in Bakers Woods last night. Like the others, the bodies were found with multiple slash wounds on their body, particularly around the jugular. These crimes have been linked to PCP users, and other hallucinogen drugs users. Despite these gruesome crimes have been occurring for years, the number of deaths have been decreasing the last few years. However, citizens of Pussahn are still not satisfied._

"_Those gangbangers are still out there, using their drugs and wreaking havoc. Why aren't the police doin' something?" says the mother of one of the victims……_

"Interesting," I say out loud. Telekinetically shutting the power and opening the door, I head out with the paper in hand.

**

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Slayer Central 2 30pm

When I reached the estate that Buffy lived, I knocked on the door and the girl that was with Buffy at the mall answered.

"Hello, Dawn," I say, seeing the girl's eyes widen.

"You!"

"Yes, me," I drawl. "Where's big, bad Buffy?" I ask Dawn while showing the front page paper with the headline over a picture of Bakers Woods.

Dawn moved aside to allow me entry to the house and went up the stairs and shouted at the top of her lungs for Buffy, "BUFFY!! YOU MIGHT WANT TO COME DOWN HERE!!"

With my super-hearing, it was like a bull horn going off in my ear. "My god, woman, do you have to shout?" I say, mostly to myself, not realizing I said those words out loud. With my head down and my hands massaging my ears, I did not notice Buffy approach and shove me hard against the door.

"You did not just '_my god woman_' my sister, buster," Buffy says. While being a good foot shorter than me, Buffy was still able to grab onto the collar of my shirt and lift me of the ground a good two inches.

Recovering my ground, I telekinetically pushed her away. Our little tussle had manage to bring the residence of the house hold, about eleven teenage girls, Faith, a pretty redhead, a tall male with an eye patch, and a familiar middle aged man…..

"Mr. Giles?"

"Mr. Gray," Giles replies back with a stern look on his face. "All right, girls, go back to your rooms and finish your homework. As for the rest of you, come along." Picking up the paper I dropped, I followed the others past several rooms until we reached a stair well leading downstairs. There, I find myself in what resemble a high school gymnasium, without the high ceiling. Along the walls, weaponry of all sorts surrounded the entire room. Three punching bags, several scarecrow like dummies, and some gymnastic also equipment decorated the room.

The man with the eye patch spoke first, "Ok, Mr. I-eat-brains-for-breakfast, what do you think you're doing here?"

I just glare at him. His racing heart indicates that he is scared to the death of me and close to wetting himself. Making today's paper float in midair in the middle of the circle we created and turning it so that everyone saw the headline, I reply, "I found this today. Figured if your fearless leader saw this, it would get her to stop following me. Seeing that it's what she's been doing for the last few weeks."

All eyes turn to Buffy and she had the grace to look uncomfortable. "You know why, Sylar."

In a fake-hurt voice, I reply, "So its _Sylar_ now. Buffy, that hurts." I walk up to her, circling around her as her friends tense up incase a fight should happen, _please_, I thought to myself. "Twelve people in four weeks. That's what the paper said. Yet you have spent every waking moment following me."

Faith jumps in, trying to pacify things, "Gabriel, we do what we can to save people. We just haven't been able to save everyone."

I turn to her, my features softening as I saw a small smile of hope on her and her redheaded friend's face. I face Buffy again. From what my intuitive aptitude picked up about the workings of Buffy's circle, I say, "There are, what, fourteen slayers in this house? Still in school, let me guess, you have a rotating shift when it comes to vampire hunting?"

Buffy looked at me, defiantly, "Well, for someone who's not a mind reader, you pretty much have us pegged down to the Tee. Tell us some more."

I smirk, and glanced at the others in the room with us. Then it clicked. "You used to be the only one. I get it now."

This unsettled Buffy, "What do you mean?"

"Being the slayer, you use to be the only one. Everyone refers to you, I see it when they try to decide what to do. There are more slayers now, but to them, you're still _The Slayer_. It's all very intriguing, really."

"Ya' know," Buffy says, rolling up her sleeves, "I am starting to get really fed up with you."

I grin, and spread my hands, palms up, as if saying '_come and get me_'. Buffy came at me with her fist aiming for the side of my head. I easily dodge the attempted hit and I grab her fist. I threw her around and she was able to do a tuck and roll and was back on her feet. Having never done hand to hand combat, the most I am able to do is dodge her blows. If I had not my agility, Buffy would have pinned me within thirty seconds. Bored, I used my ability to stop her in her tracks. When she finally gave up the struggle to retain her mobility, I released her.

"Ok, so you can move things with your mind and figure people out, I guess I've seen everything."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," I say.

"Oh, really?" Buffy asks. "Show me what you got then."

"No."

"What?!" There was unison reply from Buffy and her friends.

"I said, no," I say.

"No?" the man with the eye patch repeats.

"Is there an echo in here?" I ask rhetorically, exasperated.

"Why?" Buffy wanted to know.

"Because, unlike you, I am not looking for a fight." I tell her. "Also, unlike you, I have control."

"Control?" I hear the redhead speaking for the first time.

Still keeping my eyes on Buffy, I answer, "Yes. Going into a fight hand-to-hand, I would lose. But we all should know how I like to play. You could also reckon how the outcome would turn out." I turn to the redhead, "So, yes, I do have control."

I turn around and head toward the stairs. Before ascending the steps, I turn back to the group, "You can believe what you want, but I really don't want any trouble. You guys seem like decent people. So if you don't believe me, just leave me alone. It's all I ask. Sorry for ruining your Sunday." I look at Buffy one last time before leaving.

For the first time in a long time, for some reason, I felt hope.


	8. Underclass Hero

Chapter Eight: Underclass Hero

AN: anything you don't recognize is mine. The rest of the story is going to deviate away from what we've learned so far since the premier of volume three of heroes, so now it's pretty AU now.

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Buffy

**Slayer Central Noon**

Four weeks. Four long, boring weeks, that is how long since we had seen a vampire. Ever since Sylar, or Gabriel-whatever-confronted me about tagging him, to be exact. The others speculate that Gabriel is behind the lack of activity, but I see no reason to believe he would take care of anyone or anything other than himself. But with it now being the middle of summer and no vampires, the lack of action is driving me up the wall.

"I'm telling you Faith," I pant out, pounding the punching bag within an inch of its life, "there hasn't been one vamp in a month. Don't you think that's a little odd? I used to wish for the day there would be a town without vamps to slay. But that was when I actually had a life."

Faith, keeping the punching bag in place, replied, "I take it you're still not going to consider that maybe Gabriel might have something to do with it?"

I roll my eyes and I take a break from the bag and walk over to where my bottled water is. "Why do you guys keep bringing this up? You even have Xander convinced that Gabriel is the one doing whatever to get rid of the vamps. Gabriel takes care of no one but himself and is a former serial killer who could snap any second."

"You refuse to accept the fact there is someone out there more equipped than us to handle the vamps. Lately, you keep going on and on about the guy about how he's sarcastic and a pig and rude and so forth. If I didn't know better I'd say you're falling for the guy," Faith says, crossing her arms with a look of triumph in her eyes.

I just gape at her like a fish out of water, "What?"

Faith shrugs, "Well, it looks it. B, you've been bi-polar about how you feel about the guy. I'd say you've got it bad."

"Whatever."

I wipe away the sweat on my face and head back up stairs. In my room, I strip out of my sweaty clothes and step in the shower. As the warm water hits my body, I thought about what Faith said regarding my feelings for Gabriel. Automatically, a warm, tingly feeling went down my spine all the way down to my toes.

"Ah shit."

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1:15pm

Dressed in jeans and a zip up hoodie with my most comfortable sneakers, I stomp down the stairs to the foyer by the rec room where Faith, Dawn, and some of the younger slayers were watching TV. "Faith," I say, "just so you know, I hate you sometimes."

Faith just laughs, "I know you do, B."

Outside the house, I close my eyes and breathe in the air of what is a gorgeous day. Walking in the direction of The Book Store, I thought about what Faith had said earlier. It is true I have a bi-polar opinion of Gabriel. I cannot help but think that Gabriel could turn back into Sylar, but I cannot stop thinking about his annoying smirk and his gorgeous eyes.

I do not want to fall into this trap again. I know the gang recognize this trap, it is the same trap that Spike set up. I just do not understand why they are not pulling me out of it.

I reach The Book Store and I see the new girl, Claire, shelving new books according to genre. "Hey, Claire, how's your second week?"

Claire, whose wheat colored hair curled elegantly around her face, looked over and smiled, "Hey Buffy. It has been going really well. I can't thank Mr. Giles enough for giving me this job. Especially since I talked my dad into letting me live in an apartment instead of the dorm, 'Claire-bear, I'll pay the rent, just as long as you chip in for the utilities and groceries,'"

"I am impressed, you have a room mate?"

Claire shook her head, "No, but it's a school funded complex, so rents cheap for full time students. I'm just glad to be going to school out of state."

I frowned, "Why's that? Your hometown so bad that you wanted to go to an out of state school?"

Claire was quiet for a moment before answering, "It was just that there was this guy. He had this obsession with me, an obsession that followed my family from Texas to New York. My dad tried to get the police involved, but there weren't any physical evidence to get a restraining order. So I talked my dad into letting me apply to Ohio State."

"Damn," I said, cringing. "Sorry for bringing up a touchy subject. But I think it would a good idea to get a room mate."

"I know, I am just going to wait till classes start and see if there is anyone needing a place to stay."

"A better idea would be to see if the dorms still have any space available," Xander said, walking out of Giles's office with his tool belt around his hips and a tool box in hand. "Hey, Buffy. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it couldn't be helped."

Claire smiled, "You're fine, and it is good advise. I still have a couple months, I probably have a good chance. Hopefully."

"What was it that made this dude so interested?" Xander wanted to know.

"He thought I was _special_."

**

* * *

**

Blight Cemetery 6: 38pm

"I had a feeling I'd run into you here, Buffy," a voice says, startling me out of a daydream.

Gabriel.

"Oh, it's you," I reply, feigning disinterest, when in reality my heart started beating a mile a minute. When I see him smirk, I curse myself for forgetting his super hearing. Then I see that Gabriel wasn't alone.

"Where'd you get the puppy?"

Gabriel sat down next to me under the buckeye tree and brought the puppy to his lap. "There was a lady giving away free puppies," in a conspiracy-type whisper, Gabriel continued, "Her son accidentally left the back gate open."

"Its adorable, what is its name?"

"This little guy's name is Bennet, aren't cha?" Gabriel realized he was borderline baby talking and stopped. "He was the runt of the litter, last one picked. All his brothers and sisters had already been adopted a few weeks ago, the lady was about to drop him off at the pet center. I thought why not."

I reached a hand out to let Bennet sniff it before allowing me to scratch behind his ears, "He looks like a retriever."

Gabriel nodded, "A retriever mix. The mother's a pure-bred retriever, but the vet's assuming the father's a mutt, couldn't tell further from that." We were both silent for the while, Gabriel letting Bennet walk around and exploring around the tree. "I'm sorry about that day. Implying that you have no control; I was the one egging you on and I'm sorry for that. With my ability, I know how things work. I know what to do and or say to get a certain reaction. You know? 'With every action there is a reaction'."

I blushed at his apology, "I am sorry, too. I should have trusted you that you wouldn't relapse. I shouldn't have been following you around the way I had been."

"Oh you enjoyed it," Gabriel laughed.

"Even after all these years, I'm not used to not having to do all the work," then I remember what I really wanted to talk to Gabriel about. "Hey, Gabe? Can I ask you about something?"

"You want to know about the lack of vamp activity," Gabriel states.

"Did you have something with it?"

"I might have done a little bit here and there in my spare time."

"Spare time? What have you been doing the rest of the time?"

"It doesn't include slicing people's heads, if you're wanting to know."

"Well, what have you been doing?" I pressed. "You declined Giles's offer to work at the bookstore, but you seem to not be having any financial problems."

"You really want to what I've been doing? Well, I roam the mean streets helping the helpless. To make ends meet, I hire myself out as a P.I. investigating cheating spouses and missing children. To atone my past sins, I go after villains of the night," Gabriel finishes, and he looks at me with a lopsided grin. But when his face fell onto my fist, that surely wiped the grin off.

"I don't know what game you're playing, but you're one sick bastard and what you said isn't funny," I fumed, getting to my feet.

"Buffy, it was just a joke. What is your deal?" Gabriel fumed back, without any humor in his eyes.

"Oh, come on, Gabriel, just think. You know how things react, what makes them _tick_. Think _real _hard about _what you just said, Gabriel_," if my life had been a cartoon, steam would be whistling out my ears right now.

After that realization dawned on Gabriel's face and the hard look in his eyes softened. "I get it," he says. "A former lover, and based on your reaction he was your first love, wasn't he? What I had said was him, verbatim."

"Well, almost."

"Oh?"

"He didn't go after cheating spouses."

Gabriel smiled, lightly. He took my hands into his and pulled me a couple steps closer. "Buffy, I really am trying. I don't want that life anymore. I had thought it had meant something, but it didn't. I don't want to turn myself in but I can't turn my back on it. Just…let me have this keep to myself?"

"Ok," I don't know what made me say it. But I could see the emotion he was feeling in his eyes. I didn't have to be a mind reader, or have _intuitive aptitude_ to know that he was conflicted about the kind of person he is and the persona that he took on for so long.

I had forgotten about Bennet, he wound the leash around our legs, causing me to lose my balance and fell slightly, Gabriel pulling me to him, my hands landing on the small of his back and our chests touching.

"Have dinner with me?" Gabriel whispered.

"Yes," I whisper back, "But not tonight. I need to get home."

"Of course, yes," Gabriel says. We untangle ourselves from the Bennet's leash and we parted ways.

**

* * *

**

Slayer Central 7:50pm

"BUFFY WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" was the first thing that bombarded me as I walk in the door and Faith, Willow, Dawn, Xander, and Giles rushing at me, asking questions as to where I've been.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Guys, chill," I said. "What's wrong with you guys? I've been patrolling around Blight."

"You were with him, weren't you? I knew that guy was trouble!" Xander cried.

"Gabriel? Yeah I was with him. You know guys, I think you were right, he has been responsible for most of the lack of vamps----" Dawn cuts me off before I could finish.

"You remember that guy has been missing for the last six weeks?" Dawn asks.

"Yeah, but----"

"He's dead, Buffy," Giles butts in. "It's on the news, they found the body this morning."

"Do we know how he died? Vampires?"

"The top of his head was sawed off, Buffy," Faith says. "We're really sorry, but the guy's brain has been removed."

"You're going to have to find a way to bring Sylar in," Willow finishes.


End file.
